Coca-Cola Adds Low-Calorie Sprite and Fanta

Soda companies have found the new jackpot in the business: mid-calorie offerings. After the relative success of Pepsi Next and Dr Pepper Ten, Coca-Cola is adding its own mid-calorie drinks to its menu, with Sprite and Fanta.

The drinks, both at 70 calories, are being tested in Atlanta, Detroit, Louisville, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn., reports Forbes. That's half the calories of a regular can of Sprite (at 140 calories) and even less for Fanta (at 160 calories). The company hopes that the offerings will be a bigger hit than the failed C2 mid-calorie drink, off its original Coke.

Pepsi Next has gained more traction for the number two soda-maker, which claims the drink tastes the same as a regular Pepsi but with 60 fewer calories. One big difference in the Coca-Cola and Pepsi offerings? Pepsi Next uses high-fructose corn syrup and three artificial sweetners; the Sprite and Fanta mid-cal versions will use natural sweeters, says Forbes.